Proposed Digital Video Broadcast Handheld (DVB-H) mobile wireless broadcast service protocols, for example, the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) BCAST protocol and the competing DVB-Convergence Broadcast and Mobile Service (CBMS) protocol, both implement an Electronic Service Guide (ESG) that provides information regarding available broadcast services to mobile terminal users. The ESG information generally comprises text and/or image fragments that exist independently.
The Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) Technical Specification, at Section 5.2.2.9, specifies that the Electronic Service Guide (ESG) contains metadata tags used by mobile terminals to present preview data. The preview data may be a short video clip preview or other information referencing content that may be purchased or otherwise obtained by the user. The preview data may also reference other services, for example, a low bit rate version of a relatively high quality service. The preview data is generally presented to the user when browsing a service description in the ESG. The preview data may also be presented when checking subscription or charging information for a specific service, or when switching to a specific broadcast channel. The ESG may also include preview data expiration information that indicates when the preview data expires.
The various aspects, features and advantages of the disclosure will become more fully apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon careful consideration of the following Detailed Description and the accompanying drawings described below. The drawings may have been simplified for clarity and are not necessarily drawn to scale.